FBI director James Comey has said that securing any Olympics is an ‘enormous task’, but there’s a substantial effort on the part of the Russian authorities to make the Sochi Games secure. He added the FBI will be cooperating.

“Securing any Olympics is an enormous task. I think it’s
particularly challenging in Sochi because of its proximity to
areas of unrest and sources of a terrorist threat,” Comey
said. Russian authorities are devoting “enormous
resources and effort” to securing the games, he
added, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal.

Comey spoke of improved cooperation between Russian and US
intelligence officials and announced that about three dozen FBI
personnel will come to Sochi and Moscow to rendezvous with their
counterparts in the Russian intelligence service to aid the
security effort. He expressed confidence that the Russian
authorities will keep the Games safe.

“We have been in regular communication – including me
personally – with their security organizations to make sure we’re
coordinating well. I think we are,” Comey told reporters on
Thursday. “We’ve improved our information sharing on
counterterrorism…The Russian government understands the threat
and is devoting the resources to address it.”

Agencies’ cooperation is nothing new for huge international
events like the Olympics, and while a lot of this happens at a
classified level of intelligence sharing, it has often been
reported in the media about the dispatch of foreign personnel to
events in order to assist with security procedures.

On Friday, the US State Department issued a travel alert for
Americans planning on attending the winter Olympic Games in
Sochi. While no ‘specific threat’ for US citizens is indicated,
they are asked to stay vigilant.

The document says that while Westerners will hardly be specific
targets for terrorist groups, with the Russian authorities
promising to provide appropriate security, US citizens are
advised to stay “aware of their personal surroundings and
follow good security practices.”

Moscow has repeatedly insisted that every possible security
measure is already in place in Sochi. Tens of thousands of police
and interior ministry officials will be safeguarding the Games,
while 5,000 surveillance cameras installed across the city will
bolster the counterterrorism effort.

“All security is in place. And I want to ensure you that
despite the global threat of terrorism, here in Sochi everybody
will be protected,” the head of the Sochi 2014 Organizing
Committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko, earlier told RT.The
anti-terrorism measures announced include surveillance drones,
which will for the first time be used in Sochi to keep the
Olympics secure. In addition, two sonar systems to detect
submarines and protect the Sochi area from a possible
sea-launched terror attack will be used.

This is not the first time such serious security measures have
been taken by a country hosting the Olympic Games. At the 2012
Olympics in London, the UK’s security operation involved warships
anchored on the Thames, attack helicopters dispatched, and
ground-to-air missiles installed within the city. Tens of
thousands of security guards and military personnel took part in
the operation. The UK capital’s residents also saw surveillance
sharply tightened, with countless extra cameras installed and a
fleet of spying drones brought into action.